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International Day of Older Persons 2018 Seniors who are champions for human rights are the focus of celebrations for the 2018 International Day of Older Persons. In New Zealand Minister for Seniors Hon Tracey Martin named equal pay campaigner Kristine Bartlett, 2018 New Zealander of the Year, and justice reform campaigner Kim Workman, 2018 Senior…

Healthy Homes Guarantee Standards Consultation Another chance to help improve renting is the consultation on the rules about insulation, heating, moisture, ventilation and draught-stopping that will be set under the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act. With nearly 600,000 rental households including more than 200,000 children, it is vital that the warmth and dryness of our house…

Some ideas for first steps towards better taxing income on capital were a feature of the interim report of the Tax Working Group (TWG) released on 19th September. The TWG is asking for feedback over the next few weeks on two options as it prepares it final report, as well as the other interim findings….

Social Security Re-write to become law A modern, clear, and accessible Social Security Act Under the previous National-led government, a complete re-write of the Social Security Act 1964 was initiated. NZCCSS was among the many people who made submissions on the resulting Social Security Rewrite Bill (see our 2016 article on this and submission). The…

Kia Pike Ake – Welfare Expert Advisory Group The Kia Pike Ake The Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) was established by the Minister for Social Development Hon Carmel Sepuloni in June 2018 to conduct a review of the social welfare system. The government describes its vision for welfare as: “A welfare system that ensures people…

An important time for your voice to be heard Kete Kupu 47 July 2018 Wellbeing is the word du jour in government as the Labour-led coalition seeks to shape how government spending and reporting of progress will be assessed. The Government is undertaking a huge amount of consultation and seeking feedback far and wide on…

Positive Ageing Strategy Consultation – ends 24th August How do we plan together as a country for the impact of our ageing population? The combination of a lower birth rate and people enjoying longer lives means that the structure of our population is in the middle of a massive shift. In 20 years’ time there…

Treasury Proposed Living Standards Dashboard Paul Barber, NZCCSS Policy Advisor The NZ Treasury has been tasked by Finance Minister Grant Robertson with preparing a Wellbeing Budget in May 2019. To guide this approach Treasury is working together with StatsNZ to design a Living Standards Framework for Monitoring Intergenerational Wellbeing. NZCCSS is part of the Equality…

“We will measure our progress as a Government differently – by focusing on improving wellbeing and lifting living standards.” This Policy Watch edition comes hard on the heels of the latest Kete Kupu newsletter, published last week covering in more detail the policy and social justice issues that we at NZCCSS working on. Some areas…

Minister for Seniors Tracey Martin has signalled that promoting housing options for older people will be one of two key areas focus for a new Positive Ageing Strategy to be developed this year. The current Positive Ageing Strategy was written in 2001 and needs to be updated to reflect the continuing changes as our population…

Excessive pay rises at CEO level are the headline-grabbing examples of the rise in inequality in this country. This excess extends into the government sector, with New Zealand shown to have the second highest paid public service Chief Executives among the 34 wealthy countries in the OECD. This puts New Zealand ahead of much larger…

Mā te huruhuru te manu ka rere Let our rangatahi be the wings that give us flight. The skills and abilities of Māori are central to the future wellbeing of our whole nation: “Rangitahi success represents the most significant opportunity to enhance productivity and ensure collective prosperity for the future”. That is the message from…

Two key Christian social service organisations in Hamilton have now combined, with Methodist Tamahere Eventide taking over the Catholic Atawhai Assisi aged care facilities from the beginning of April. Tamahere CEO Louis Fick, who is also a member of the NZCCSS Services for Older People Policy Group, says “we are Christian faith-based organisation and also…

Make a submission due 23 May Another step to improve renting is being taken with a new law on the way that will ban letting fees. Usually charged as the equivalent of one week’s rent on top of the usual 4 weeks rent as bond and 2 weeks rent in advance, these fees are an…

The Moral Force of the Living Wage The Living Wage movement continues to go from strength to strength with the 2018 Living Wage rate of $20.55 announced on the 4th April marking another step in the journey to lift low wages and set a benchmark for decent incomes. NZCCSS is one of nearly 100 organisations…